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April 07, 2010

The New Car Industry in the South

The New Car Industry in the South

In recent years, the U.S. car making business has made a distinct shift south. Asian car makers like Hyundai and Kia have set up non-union assembly plants in southern states. Today - two stories of men who have their hopes and dreams built on the future of the auto industry in the South.

MISSISSIPPI: Barry Emison is a tool and die teacher at a community college near Blue Springs, Mississippi. In 2007, he was given the news that Toyota would be opening up a local manufacturing plant and his program would be revamped to train the workers. Barry worked night and day to change the curriculum and get new equipment. Then Toyota announced the plant opening would be delayed, indefinitely.

GEORGIA: When Chris Frost found a job with a supplier for the local Kia auto plant, he couldn’t believe his good fortune. But once the job started, things weren’t looking so rosy. Chris says that a cultural divide between the Korean managers and the American workers made it a tough work environment. But now, things are improving.

ONE ENTREPRENEUR

We've been doing a small series of stories about people forming new businesses even in this down economy. Tracy Vasquez has been running a small custom cookie business out of her home for several years. Her dream was to have an actual retail business. But bad credit decisions and a felony charge held her back for years. This May, Tracy’s about to realize her dream of opening up a real cookie shop. It all came about because of a chance meeting with a TV Food Network baker. Tracy talks with Dick about how her life’s mistakes actually made her stronger and prepared her to own her own business.

On a good surfers’ beach, usually everyone is in the water. But at 38th Parallel Beach – near the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea – surfers sometimes see parades with tanks, soldiers and guns.

In 1964, Dan was accidentally lifted 3,000 feet in the air by a hot air balloon. He was 11 years old, and with his buddies went to watch a balloon take off from the local high school football field. Dan was asked to hold a rope, but didn't hear the call to let go

Adrienne Johnson wrote in after hearing our story about Reuben Appelman and his encounter with a childhood enemy on Facebook. Adrienne says her story is similar, except that she probably has more in common with the enemy.

Lynn Gazley has been living that debate. Lynn wasn't having any luck getting pregnant, so she turned to fertility treatments. Then she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer and had to start chemotherapy immediately. Lynn later learned that she carries a gene mutation that made her highly susceptible to developing breast cancer. And it turns out that the fertility treatments may have caused the rapid growth of the cancer.